Neapolitan pizza dough is four ingredients — flour, water, salt, yeast — and the simplest recipe in Italian cooking. But the technique is exacting: long cold fermentation develops complex flavour, high-protein flour creates structure, and the 90-second bake in a 450°C+ oven produces the characteristic leopard-spotted, pillowy cornicione (rim) with a thin, slightly charred base. The dough is stretched by hand, never rolled — the rolling pin compresses the gas bubbles that create the light texture.
Tipo '00' flour (finely milled, moderate protein 12-13%). Hydration 58-65%. Very small amount of yeast — the dough rises slowly over 24-72 hours in the fridge. Cold fermentation develops flavour through enzymatic breakdown of starches into sugars. Dough balls are portioned (250-280g) and proofed at room temperature for 2-4 hours before use. Stretched by hand: press from centre outward leaving a rim of gas, stretch over knuckles. The cornicione puffs in the oven because those gas bubbles were preserved, not squashed.
For home ovens: preheat a pizza steel (better than stone — conducts heat faster) for a full hour at maximum temperature with the broiler on. The pizza cooks in 3-4 minutes with the leopard spotting coming from the broiler above. The 72-hour cold ferment is worth the wait — the flavour complexity is incomparable to same-day dough. San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, with no cooking — the oven does the cooking.
Using bread flour (too strong — creates chewy, bready texture). Using too much yeast and rushing the rise. Rolling with a pin — destroys the gas structure. Oven not hot enough — home ovens need maximum heat plus a preheated pizza steel or stone. Overloading toppings — Neapolitan pizza is minimalist. Thick base — it should be 2-3mm in the centre.